2014 the chartres cathedral labyrinth
TRANSCRIPT
The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in Context:
Placement, History and Practice
!Prepared by
The Rev. Jill K H Geoffrion, Ph.D. www.jillgeoffrion.com
Pilgrimage Ritual !
Stand. !
As we bow our heads, we remember that the first step
on the path is humility. !
The second step, letting go, is symbolized by
holding two fists outand opening them downward.
!The third step, receiving,
is honored by turning the palms up in a gesture of openness.
!For the fourth step, both hands
are placed over the heart. !
Then, all pray,“May the path lead us Home.”
Created by:Cielle [email protected]
Our pilgrim's prayer adapted from the medieval Codex Callixtus (c.1140)
"God, You called your servant Abraham from Ur in Chaldea, watching over him in all his wanderings, and guided the Hebrew people as they crossed the desert.
Guard we your children who, for the love of your Name, are making a pilgrimage to [Chartres].
Be our companion on the way, our guide at the crossroads, our strength in weariness, our defense in dangers, our shelter on the path, our shade in the heat, our light in the darkness, our comfort in discouragement, and the firmness of our intentions; that through your guidance, we may arrive safely at the end of our journey and, enriched with grace and virtue, may return to our homes filled with salutary and lasting joy."
Who has never walked a labyrinth? !
Who has walked a labyrinth 1-10 times? !
Who has walked a labyrinth more than 10 times? !!!
Who has walked the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral?
What intrigues me most about the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral?
What questions do I have about it?
Keep walking, though there is nowhere
to get to. Move within,
but don’t move the way fear
makes you move.” !
Rumi in Coleman Barks, The Illuminated Rumi, 31.
The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth:
Introductory Comments
A labyrinth is a pattern with a winding path that leads to a center.
A labyrinth has one--and only one--pathway. Mazes have many.
There are no tricks or dead ends in a labyrinth. You can’t get lost.
Karen Wingaba Maze at a Buddhist Temple
Yangon, Myanmar
!
Goa, India 2,000-2500 BCEPansaimol Labyrinth
©Jeff Saward see Labyrinths and Mazes & www.labyrinthos.net
Historical labyrinths exist all over the world. The oldest is approximately 4,000 years old.
It is found in Asia, on a rock surface in Goa, India.
Marin, Spain 1,500 BCE
Christians began using labyrinths as early as 324 A.D.
From a church in Orléansville, Algeria (Africa)
Martianus Capella 11th century
manuscript which speaks of the
seven liberal arts !
Kern No 187; page 115
Labyrinths in Christian manuscripts from the Middle Ages
Lambert St. Omer
entre 1060-1123 !
Under the drawing- the story of Theseus
and the minotaur !
Kern No 191; page 116
Isodore de Séville 1072
Manuscript concerned with dating Easter
!Kern No 183; pages 112-113
10th century St. Germain des Prés –
Paris Manuscript relating to
the Easter cycle !
Kern No 181; page 112
Lucca, Italy (outside cathedral) 12th-13th century
European (non-French) church labyrinths in the Middle Ages Italy: Rome (St. M. Aquiro) 1189, St. M. Trastevere, 12th cent.; Pavia 1100; Piacenza 1107; Pontremoli 12th cent.
Spain: Barreure (Graffiti) 12th century on a pillar Germany: Cologne, Cathedral, end of the 13th cent.
Christ in the center of a labyrinth frescoAlatri, Italy, 12th century(restored)
French cathedral labyrinths in the Middle Ages
1134/5 Auxerre Cathedral of St. Stephen 16901160 Arras Cathedral (in the nave, started 1160) 17931160 Poitiers Cathedral graffiti; lab in nave also?
1179/80
Sens Cathedral nave, finished 1180 17691200 St. Quentin church; Cathedral 14951201 Chartres, Cathedral1290 Reims Cathedral 17791288 Amiens Cathedral 1825
Late 13th? St. Omer Cathedral 1789
French and Italian medieval labyrinths
!The french labyrinths
were found in only two dioceses:
!!!!
Reims (octagonal) and Sens (circular)
Diagram Caerdroia
!
Easter Dances at Auxerre, Sens, Chartres and Amiens Doob, Penelope Reed. The Idea of the Labyrinth
from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages. Ithica, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990.
!
“...the need for a sizable space within the church to act out Christ’s harrowing of hell.” Craig Wright, The Maze & The Warrior, 37.
The labyrinth as a place where liturgical dramas of Christ’s descent to hell and freeing of the captives could be reenacted.
Life is Like a Labyrinth By Hali Chambers !
Whatever path you are on, you are on a path. Sometimes it may feel like you are going in circles,
and then you turn the corner, and you’re closer to your goal.
The journey is just as important as the destination.
!In Labyrinth Pathways (5th Edition: September 2011) 6.
healinglabyrinthpath.com
!
The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in Context:
Description, Placement & Unique Features
Walking the Labyrinth !
To your o-pen mouth we come, pausing with expectancy.
Posing questions, praying dreams, gath’ring courage, hope and faith,
Circle, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
Stepping in, the way is sure, Pacing comes in its own time.
Breathing slows, awareness dawns, Trusting, longing fill our hearts. Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
In the center we are held, deeply knowing, deeply known.
Healing, wholeness rising up, Wisdom, insight overflow.
Center, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Back we go, the way we came, Weaving, winding in and out.
Moving t’ward the world beyond, Op’ning hearts to needs perceiv’d.
Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Once outside we gaze within,
wond’ring at the peace we know. Spending moments filled with awe,
taking leave with strength renewed. Circle, you hold life indeed.
With thanksgiving we proceed. !!Text: Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion ©1998
Tune: DIX (For the Beauty of the Earth) Dedicated with gratitude to Madeleine Sue Martin.
Photo ©Cheryl Felicia Dudley, used with permission
Description of the Chartres
labyrinth pattern
Photo ©Alain Kilar [email protected]
Description of the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral
Walking the Labyrinth !
To your o-pen mouth we come, pausing with expectancy.
Posing questions, praying dreams, gath’ring courage, hope and faith,
Circle, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
Stepping in, the way is sure, Pacing comes in its own time.
Breathing slows, awareness dawns, Trusting, longing fill our hearts. Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
In the center we are held, deeply knowing, deeply known.
Healing, wholeness rising up, Wisdom, insight overflow.
Center, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Back we go, the way we came, Weaving, winding in and out.
Moving t’ward the world beyond, Op’ning hearts to needs perceiv’d.
Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Once outside we gaze within,
wond’ring at the peace we know. Spending moments filled with awe,
taking leave with strength renewed. Circle, you hold life indeed.
With thanksgiving we proceed. !!Text: Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion ©1998
Tune: DIX (For the Beauty of the Earth) Dedicated with gratitude to Madeleine Sue Martin.
Photo ©Cheryl Felicia Dudley, used with permission
The Chartres labyrinth: what about terminology?
The Chartres labyrinth pattern was designed during medieval times for “use” inside a Christian sanctuary.
!Everything in the building was in
relationship with the liturgies that were practiced.
!Clergy would surely have had input on the biggest design element in the
cathedral. !
Relevant Christian shapes: Cross
Chalices 6/12 Petal flower
Arches Circles
Walking the Labyrinth !
To your o-pen mouth we come, pausing with expectancy.
Posing questions, praying dreams, gath’ring courage, hope and faith,
Circle, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
Stepping in, the way is sure, Pacing comes in its own time.
Breathing slows, awareness dawns, Trusting, longing fill our hearts. Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
In the center we are held, deeply knowing, deeply known.
Healing, wholeness rising up, Wisdom, insight overflow.
Center, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Back we go, the way we came, Weaving, winding in and out.
Moving t’ward the world beyond, Op’ning hearts to needs perceiv’d.
Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Once outside we gaze within,
wond’ring at the peace we know. Spending moments filled with awe,
taking leave with strength renewed. Circle, you hold life indeed.
With thanksgiving we proceed. !!Text: Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion ©1998
Tune: DIX (For the Beauty of the Earth) Dedicated with gratitude to Madeleine Sue Martin.
Photo ©Cheryl Felicia Dudley, used with permission
The Stone of the Chartres Labyrinth
Yellow Limestone from the Quarry at Bechères-les-Pierres
(about 7 kilometers from Chartres)
Black Marble probably extracted near Givet,in the Meuse River region,
hundreds of kilometers by river and east of Chartres.
See Jean Villette, Labyrinth, 12..
The limestone used for Chartres Cathedral
becomes stronger with age.
This circular labyrinth Is composed of an extraordinary number of circles.
Center Petals: 6
Center Center Circle: 1
Circles/Circuits & Center Circle: 12Circle-based lunations/arches: 112
Half-circle (approximate) turns: 28 There are at least
145!
Pathway Features:
The pathway
averages 13 1/4 (34 cm) inches
with a 3 inch (7.5 cm) “wall” separating each
path. (Sawards, 22.) !
Length from threshold to center:
261.5 meters (858 feet) John James Contractors of Chartres
[262.4 meters (860.9 feet) Sawards, 23.]
Walking the Labyrinth !
To your o-pen mouth we come, pausing with expectancy.
Posing questions, praying dreams, gath’ring courage, hope and faith,
Circle, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
Stepping in, the way is sure, Pacing comes in its own time.
Breathing slows, awareness dawns, Trusting, longing fill our hearts. Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
In the center we are held, deeply knowing, deeply known.
Healing, wholeness rising up, Wisdom, insight overflow.
Center, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Back we go, the way we came, Weaving, winding in and out.
Moving t’ward the world beyond, Op’ning hearts to needs perceiv’d.
Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Once outside we gaze within,
wond’ring at the peace we know. Spending moments filled with awe,
taking leave with strength renewed. Circle, you hold life indeed.
With thanksgiving we proceed. !!Text: Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion ©1998
Tune: DIX (For the Beauty of the Earth) Dedicated with gratitude to Madeleine Sue Martin.
Photo ©Cheryl Felicia Dudley, used with permission
A cross is embedded
in the symbol of
this labyrinth.
A spiral is also embedded in the Chartres
Cathedral labyrinth. Diagram by Robert Ferré, Chartres Labyrinth
Walking the Labyrinth !
To your o-pen mouth we come, pausing with expectancy.
Posing questions, praying dreams, gath’ring courage, hope and faith,
Circle, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
Stepping in, the way is sure, Pacing comes in its own time.
Breathing slows, awareness dawns, Trusting, longing fill our hearts. Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !
In the center we are held, deeply knowing, deeply known.
Healing, wholeness rising up, Wisdom, insight overflow.
Center, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Back we go, the way we came, Weaving, winding in and out.
Moving t’ward the world beyond, Op’ning hearts to needs perceiv’d.
Pathway, you hold life indeed. With thanksgiving we proceed. !Once outside we gaze within,
wond’ring at the peace we know. Spending moments filled with awe,
taking leave with strength renewed. Circle, you hold life indeed.
With thanksgiving we proceed. !!Text: Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion ©1998
Tune: DIX (For the Beauty of the Earth) Dedicated with gratitude to Madeleine Sue Martin.
Photo ©Cheryl Felicia Dudley, used with permission
Path of the labyrinth squared off and presented in rectangular form. Caerdroia No. 32: 2001 Robert Ferré
QQHHQQHQHQHQQHQHQHQQHQHQHQQHHQQ CENTER
QQHHQQHQHQHQQHQHQHQQHQHQHQQHHQQ Sequence of 31 mouvements of the Chartres labyrinth
Craig Wright. The Maze and the Warrior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001.
...has a symmetry from side to side, and from the outside to the centre.John James, The Mystery of the Great Labyrinth at Chartres, 1.
Numbers and Sacred Geometry as it applies to the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral
Sacred geometry & the labyrinth in the Chartres CathedralCenter & diameters: significant ratios
1: Unity of all (God)
3: Trinity, Spirit Stability, Balance, Heaven
!4: Matter, Ground,Earth
Diagram and Geometry by John James
The ratio of the diameter of the center to the diameter of the labyrinth is 1:4.
The ratio of the diameter of each “petal” to the diameter of the center is 1:3.
Note also: The ratio of the diameter of the labyrinth is equal to 1/10 the total interior dimension of the
cathedral. The symbolism of 10:
recapitulation of the whole.John James, Vol. 2, schematics on 190-197.
The placement of the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral
In the Gothic Cathedralthe placement of the labyrinth
falls at the threshold of the Romanesque 1020 cathedral
built by Fulbert
Diagram from Gordon Strachan, Chartres: Sacred Geometry, Sacred Space. 2003
The labyrinth was placed in the part
of the church that served
the laity.
!The original high altar
and the labyrinth are related spatially.
<<<<Wright, Craig from James. The Maze and the Warrior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Placement of the labyrinth in the nave: Bays 3 & 4 of 7
3=Sacred, spirit
!4=Matter, ground
!7: The
meeting of heaven and
earth
“...we note that the center of the labyrinth faces the axis of the piers that divide the seven bays of the nave--a number with an aura of prestige--in the harmonic of 3 + 4. Three, symbolic of the spirit, and four, that of matter...It is evident that
one and the other, spirit and matter, are indispensable in achieving such architecture.”
Jean Villette, The Enigma of the Labyrinth, 33.
<<<<Dessin: Paul Durand Notre Dame de Chartres (France: Molière) 2006.
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
!Martin Buber (Jewish Philosopher) in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov
Some Special Features of the Chartres Labyrinth
The largest medieval church labyrinth that was ever installed.
42 feet 3 3/8 inches (north to south) by 42 feet 4 inches (west to east)
12.85 meters in diameter.
lighted labyrinth--around midnight in February
There is a way to begin, meaningful movement is the child of stillness.
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Chartres Cathedral has the oldest church pavement labyrinth that is still intact.
Notice how worn some of the stones are... They have been in Chartres since the beginning of the 13th century.
See where you are. You do not have to be anywhere else
or better than you are. !
Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
partial-circles (3/4 complete) around the outside of the labyrinth
Partial Circles Around the Outside of the Labyrinth
If you count the threshold, there are 113 arches.
!Since the threshold is the width of two,
if they went all the way around the circle, there would be 114.
What shall we call the partial-circles around the outside of the labyrinth?
Lunations: Keith Critchlow, Lauren Artress Cups: Helen Sands Cogs: John James
Halo (of ornamentation): Jeff Saward Arches (Cloister): Jill Geoffrion
Teeth: French common usage “Dents” ---------------------------------------------
Ring of Fire Around Paradise (James) Crown of thorns (CFD)
Other????
Lunar months are 29.5306 days. Medieval clerics used a lunar calendric system with alternating months
of 29 and 30 days along with some other features that kept the cycle on track. They used these calendars to determine important days of the church year.
For more information: Sawards, Is That A Fact? Caerdroia 33:2003, 26.
The partial-circles around the outside of the Chartres labyrinth recall the shapes of the arches of monastery cloisters
as well as those found in cathedral triforia.
Cloisters were used for exercise, shelter, and reflection. Wells were often placed in
the center. Medicinal gardens were often planted
inside the cloisters. !
Sainte Anne D’Auray, France
Triforium above labyrinth, Chartres Cathedral
!This area was considered as an in-between-space, touching both
the “below” (earth) and “above” (heaven)
Feel the Grace of the Earth and God through your soles. This is the pathway of soul. And it is a constant turning!
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
The northeast orientation of the cathedral and labyrinth (Not due East- but symbolically oriented to the East)
Bouttier, La Cathédrale de Chartres. MB Editions, 1999. Page 2.
The way allows wings and those who lumber. the way allows the bleeding and broken as well as the fit and strong.
You may be feeble and frightened or you may feel invincible. Either way your inner angel will be the one to carry you.
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Center Flower
The center of the Chartres labyrinth
is 9 feet (2.74 meters).
Because the labyrinth is spans the entire nave, its center is exposed even when chairs cover the rest of it.
flower & stem
6 petals (each divided in 2)
5 fleur de lises & 2 partial
7 triangles
The Shapes of the Center
Center: 6 Petals formed by 7 Circles7: The meeting of heaven and earth (Number of the Virgin); 6: Stability and balance (Number of Christ)
Around one central circle, 6 circles of the same size fit perfectly. By moving each circle over a little so that the lines between them overlap,
it is possible to create a 6 petal flower with an opening (stem).
!
Note: Each “petal” is subdivided--12 petals around one central circle.
Diagram by John JamesDiagram by Robert Ferré
In discussing the movement of the circles John James says, “…it
represents Christ easing aside the perfection of paradise to let us in.”
Six/Twelve Petalled Flower
The way is black and white and also living colors— all suggesting change.
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Center of the Center
“...from a description of the plaque from around 1640...it formerly bore a representation of the combat between
Theseus and the Minotaur, we have no plan or diagram of the layout of its design. It would surely have been similar to the
depictions of this scene found in contemporary labyrinth manuscripts, or at the centre of the 12th
century floor labyrinths in Italian cathedrals. Sawards, “Is That A Fact?” Page 21.
The central plaque was removed
around 1792 during the
French Revolution.
What do the placement of the rivets suggest about how
many plaques there might have been?
An oral tradition and later a literary tradition involving the labyrinth was expressed the Greek myth of Theseus and the minotaur.
Later, the Romans pictured the myth in their mosaics.
Roman Mosaic Labyrinth in the Kuntz
Museum in Vienna, Austria
275-300 CE
9th century BNF Latin 4416
!Earliest
manuscript with a minotaur
10th century BNF Latin 13013
This parchment manuscript, containing a calendar, Easter cycles, annals, etc. written from the ninth to the eleventh century, if from the monastery of St. Germain des Prés, Paris. The tenth-century flyleaf, shown here, bears the oldest surviving depiction of a Chartres-style labyrinth, diam. 17.5 cm. Kern image 181, page 112.
11th century Morgan MS925
(NYC USA)
The upper body of the creature at the center (diam approx. 2.5 cm) is that of an armed
man; the Minotaur is thus
depicted as a pather(?)-centaur.
Above the labyrinth is a
table for calculating the course of the moon through
the zodiac..
Kern, page 112
1060-1123 Ghent, University Library, MS 92, fol.
20r Belgium
Kern image 191, page 116
The heading reads, “Domus
Deali in qu Minotaurum posuit Mynos
rex” (The house of Daedalus, in
which King Minos
imprisoned the Minotaur.”
12th century BNF Latin 12999
Kern: “it is surrounded by a two course wall fortified with battlements, recalling a Roman mosaic labyrinth. It has merely six circuits and an unusual path layout.” 237
End of 12th century Munich Clm 14731
The text above the maze reads
CUM MINOTHAURO PUGNAT THESE
US [IN] LABORINTO. = Theseus fights with the
Minotaur in the Labyrinth.
Kern Fig. 262 , Page 154
12th century !
Theseus and the Minotaur !
Central Stone/Marble Slab (75 cm x 68 cm)
Cologne Labyrinth, St. Severin
(now kept in Erzbischöfliches Diözesanmuseum Köln)
!It was removed for unknown
reasons in 1840. It is now kept in Erzbischöfliches
Diözesanmuseum Köln)
12th century (1107) Consecrated on 15 August (Feast day of the Assumption of Mary)
Pavia, Italy Labyrinth Mosaic San Michele Maggiore
The central panel depicts the battle of Theseus and the Minotaur "Teseus intravit monstrumque biforme necavit" - Theseus entered and killed the hybrid monster. Jeff Saward, correspondence
The way is mindfulness. It is the soul’s unbinding and the body’s healing.
It is the cleansing of the mind’s eye. !
Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Relationship of the Labyrinth and the West Rose: Myths & Truths
Jeff and Kimberly Saward “Is That A Fact?” Caerdroia 33:14-27 (2003). Page 24.
There is a deep correspondence between the labyrinth and the west window. However, they are not the same size (rose: 11.9 meters of glazed area, 13.6
meters with moulding, labyrinth: just under 12.9 meters) and they are not the same distance from the
west wall (10 feet/3.0m difference).
Artistically appealing, but NOT accurate!
The west rose overlaid on the Chartres labyrinth.
Helen Rafael Sands. The Healing Labyrinth. NY:
Barrons, 2001.
Six Petalled Flower in the Center of the Chartres Labyrinth Christ in the Center
“The motif [of the six-lobed rosette belongs to an old and widespread family of stellar symbols, the origins of which reach back into antiquity. Eight-or six-lobed rosettes, as
symbols of the stellar nature of God, are a common occurrence in Sumerian, Babylonian, Jewish and Roman art. The motif was quickly absorbed into the Christian cult, as a
reference to the celestial nature of the new god, and subsequently became so closely associated with the cross
of Christ as to be practically interchangeable with it.”
Walter Horn and Ernest Born, The Plan of St. Gall, 3 volumes (Berkeley, 1979), I, 131 as
quoted in Craig Wright, The Maze and the Warrior: Symbols in Architecture, Theology and Music (Harvard University
Press, 2001)43.
Relationship between the labyrinth rosette and the west rose window
“As Christ is signified by the rosette in the center of the
[labyrinth], so too he resides in the west rose.”
Wright, The Maze and the Warrior. 43.Looking to the west rose from the center of the labyrinth.
Center of the West Rose, Christ in judgment
View from the centerlooking west
View from the center of the labyrinth
looking east.
Simply begin. At the Center you will find your truest self and your birthplace at the heart of the rose.
In the phoenix nest at the center you will and be touched by fire. !
Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
!The Threshold Stone
!Chalice?
Baptismal Font? Other?
Threshold Stone From the Side Threshold Stone On Way OutThreshold Stone & Path In
Semi-Circular Turns
When you return we will know you truly for the first time. We will welcome news you bring from home.
Food you bring will ready us to follow. Songs you sing will call us into Mystery.
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Uniquely Shaped Turn Dividers
View from south
View from East
The only reason for going into the open heart of the labyrinth rose is to let your heart break open
so that you can hear the first cry of creation when God birthed the universe…
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Unique shapes found in the Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth:Heads added, drawn by ©Sue Swanson
!The “little sister” graffito
…and you can become large enough to respond. Let your whole life unfurl in all is magnificence and purity,
and cry back to the Holy One with the beauty that will rise within you.
!Alla Bozarth-Campbell, “Dancing the Labyrinth”
Mary & The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth
6 circuit medieval design from an 11th century manuscriptMaria Assumpta Est (Mary is Assumed) Ad Caeleti Atta (to the Father)
First known connection of the labyrinth to Marian Worship
Dated between 1030-1040
!See Kern
Addendum, page 141
!Cambridge University
Library, Kk 3.21
The number seven was considered "virgin" by the ancients because no number goes into it (without
remainder), and its geometric construction cannot be captured by compass and straightedge.
Michael Schneider A Beginner's Guide To Constructing the Universe. The Mathematic Archetypes of Nature, Art and Science. NY: HarperPerennial, 1994.
7 circles make up center (6 around 1)7 triangles in center
7 “fleur de lis” shapes (5 total, 2 partial) in center7 turns in each quadrant
relation of number of vertical (4) and horizontal (3 on each side) “chalices” width of 7 paths/lines=width of center 7 180 degree turns in each quadrant
7 ends of lines in each quadrant
The number of stones (268-274) corresponding to
the days of gestation for a child
is seen by many as a pointer to Mary.
Roger Joly (1999), “Une Nouvelle Lecture Pour Le Labyrinth De
La Cathédrale De Chartres”, Bulletin de la Societé d'Archologie d'Eure et Loir 63: 202-31.
See especially page 220.
There is no documentary evidence of this,
but it is not out of sync with the theological messages of birth
that can be found in other parts of the
cathedral.
Flowers That Symbolized Mary in Medieval times
The rose is a many petalled flower. It often symbolizes love,
the feminine, Mary: Rosa Mystica, and spiritual
enlightenment.
The Madonna Lily has six petals.
“The lily from the Song of Solomon
was used as a symbol of Mary’s undivided
availability for God.” Kyrmow, 27.
For further study: Mary’s Flowers: Gardens,
Legends & Meditations. Vincenzina Krymow. (Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2002).
Lily in Annunciation Window (South Ambulatory of Chartres Cathedral.
I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.”
Song 2:1
Other Mary flowers with six petals: Star of Bethlehem
The Fleur de lis (iris) has long represented Mary and the
annunciation.
Iris in the Center: Mary & Fleur-de-lis
North Rose Window with many 3 petaled Fleur-de-lises.
“From ancient times the yellow iris has been considered sacred to the
Virgin Mary and was one of the plants used to decorate churches on
special days.” Krymow, 140
The Yellow Flag Iris is also named the Fleur -de-lis. It has a long
association with Mary. In earlier times irises were referred to as
lilies. See Krymow 139-141.
Mary’s Presence Seems Very Near: Views of Mary That Can Be Seen From the Labyrinth
In the East
In the West
In the North
In the South
!Mary’s image surrounds the labyrinth on all sides. She stands above the labyrinth,
offering nourishment.
God said to Moses, “Remove the sandals from your feet.
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” !
Exodus 3:5
The windows around the labyrinth
There may be theological resonances with other cathedral features
Chartres Theology Surrounding the Labyrinth as Communicated in Stained Glass
Tree of Jesse
Noah
the end of time
Life of Christ
Tree of Jesse
Christ
Christ’s Passion
West Windows Above the LabyrinthWindows To the North of the Labyrinth
Windows To the South of the LabyrinthClerstory Windows Above the Labyrinth
St. LubinSt.
Eustache
Joseph
St. Nicolas
South Side (from W to E) St. Marie the Egyptian, St. Martin,
Anonymous Abbott St. James, St. Peter, Seated Christ Mary offers breast to Jesus, Saint
foye, Bishop St. James, Jeremiah & Philip, Jerome St. Calé, St. Bartholomew, Augustin
Walled off windows, Gregory the Grat Half-hidden, St. Sumphonien,St. Hilaire
North Side (from W to E) 3 Temptations of Christ, Joseph & David &
Habbukuk, Anon Bishop Laurent, St. Stephen, St. Lubin
4 Apostles, St. Nicholas, Thomas Beckett 6 Apostles, Anon Apostle, Virgin with 7 gifts
of Spirit St. Gilles, St. Georges, St. Georges
Christ blessing, Sacrifice of Isaac,3 peasants in the fields...
Chartres Theology Surrounding the Labyrinth as Communicated by Colors & Shapes
12th & 13th Century Blues
From the entrance of the labyrinth you can see the Good Samaratin Window & Pilgrim’s Story
The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth in Context:
Practice
Lithograph print >>>>Drawn by: W.C. Colman, architect.
Engraved by B. Winkles in Winkles Continental Cathedrals.
Our experience today is not the same experience of those who knew the labyrinth and
the cathedral in other times.
Etching, 17th century
home.home.
!“...the [labyrinth] had been the site of a substitute pilgrimage during the eighteenth century. ...At Arras (France) the pious recited prayers on their knees as they made their way around [the labyrinth], and here the full pilgrimage was said to require an hour.
Craig Wright. The Maze and the Warrior. (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001) 210.
19th century sketchof clerics moving
through a turf labyrinthin England
Contemporary uses of Chartres Cathedral labyrinth & its design in Chartres
The labyrinth “in town”
French cathedral guides in modern-day Chartres
The Community of Chemin Neuf
The Easter Vigil !
Procession with the paschal candle stops in the center of the labyrinth
Deacon: “The light of Christ!”Congregation: “We give thanks to God!”
The Office of Light: Easter Evening 2013 & 2014
“On the path two great crises await you. The first comes when the magic of the beginning
has vanished. The second comes just
before the goal. !
Both ask the question: Do you really want
this?” !
Gernot Candolini, Labyrinths: Walking Towards the Center (NY: Crossroads Books, 2003) 9.
Home
Home
Home HEAL Africa
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home University of the Great Lakes
Butembo, D. R. Congo
Home University of the Great Lakes
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home Myanmar Institute of Theology
Seminary Chapel, Yangon
Home Youth group of street kids
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home Women Church Leaders
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home Northern Rwanda
Home Pastors
Butembo, D. R. Congo
Home Professors and Pastors
Judson Research CenterYangon, Myanmar
Home Children on the labyrinth in their family garden
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home Community Center Labyrinth created in Yangon, Myanmar
Ecumenical Event for children from Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu families
Home HEAL Africa
(for women awaiting fistula surgeries)
Goma, D. R. Congo
Home Childrens’ Orphanage Goma, D. R. Congo
(taken on one of our student’s cell phones)
Home Uganda, Seminary in Kampala
Home Myanmar Institute of Theology, Yangon
Master of Divinity Course on Labyrinth Prayer
Home Deephaven Labyrinth, Minnesota (USA)
Home
Another summer day has come and gone in Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home Mmmmmmmmm
!May be surrounded by
a million people I still feel all alone
I just want to go home
!Lyrics by Michael Buble
Pastors, Cambodia
Home Butembo, D. R. Congo
"home...a place where we are known for what we are, accepted in the midst of our ambiguities,
and given a perspective." !
Eusden, John Dykstra. 1985. "Chartres and Ry oan-ji: Aesthetic Connections Between Gothic Cathedral and Zen Garden." The Eastern Buddhist 18 (2):9-18. Page 10
What questions is my heart asking?
What questions is my mind asking?
“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we startedand know the place for the first time.”
T. S. Elliot in Little Gidding
threshold of the
Chartres Cathedral labyrinth
What do I want most to remember?
Labyrinth resources by jill www.jillgeoffrion.com
Photo travel blog by jill www.throughjillseyes.wordpress.com
Jill’s email: [email protected]